Robert De Niro's visit to Manila served as one of the biggest highlights of the Nobu Hotel's grand launch at City of Dreams Manila.

Everybody thought he was untouchable as he walked onto the purple carpet of Nobu Hotel Manila. Aside from owning this new hotel, he is also a two-time Academy Award-winning actor that many will identify as the powerful Al Capone, the cunning young Vito Corleone, or the impassioned Travis Bickle.

But there he was, Robert De Niro himself; or, as his longtime friend and business partner, chef Nobu Matsuhisa, called him, "Bobby." On this short visit, Philippine Tatler discovered that, while De Niro doesn't rat out his friends, he won't keep his mouth shut for a momentous event.

Philippine Tatler: The Filipino people has a large respect for your method acting. Does your philosophy in art have any shared qualities with your view of business building?

Robert De Niro: I like to think that anything I get involved with business-wise has a connection with something very special [to me]... With art, it's special, it takes a lot of time. Nobu is a great chef [and] it starts there; the hotel experience should be a great one, done with love and care. I would like [it] to be thought [that] whatever I do has that element in it, in any venture I get into.